Showing posts with label childhood fame is it worth it?. Show all posts
Showing posts with label childhood fame is it worth it?. Show all posts

Thursday, June 25, 2009

A Day For RIPs

Today we heard the news first that Farrah Fawcett had died and then later on Michael Jackson. The 2pm Sky News Australia had fifteen minutes of the thirty minute bulletin dedicated to their lives and ultimately their deaths.

What can anyone say about the deaths of two of the most iconic people of the latter part of the twentieth century? They both were a huge part of many people's lives. I was not a huge Michael Jackson fan, growing up in Australia we saw more of the Osmond family but I am well aware of the contribution to the music industry that Michael made.

I also saw his bizarre behaviour coming as a direct result of his unusual childhood. He said in an interview with Oprah that he never had birthdays as a child or friends. He was the brightest star of the young Jackson Five but at what cost to his psyche? His perfectly choreographed dance steps and songs must have taken hours of rehearsal each day...days that could have been spent being a little boy. What price fame ...is talent and satisfaction in a perfect performance its own reward? Anyway, he is gone now leaving behind his children and his extended family and fans who thought of him as part of theirs.

Rest in peace Michael.

Farrah was a huge part of my twenties. I followed the fashion of the show Charlies Angels as did women the world over. Like Farrah and many other women of the seventies I went braless and proud of it! Not for us the constraints of our mothers and yes we were proud of the jiggle! The nipples bit was a bit harder...no pun intended but there were ways around that...avoiding tshirts in cold weather and Sophia Loren's nipple tape worked for some.

The way Farrah gave up her role on Charlies Angels showed her strength of character and her dedication to her craft. When I was an air hostess in the mid seventies one of my friends came into the transit lounge where I was on call for eight hours and said that she had Lee Majors on her flight. She went on to say that nobody noticed him because his wife was so incredible looking and so sweet. This was just before Charlies Angels started.

Farrah had a rare cancer, such an undignified cancer for such a private person. The investigations and treatments must have been humiliating although not as humiliating as when her medical records were stolen and sold to the press.... for the sum of $4,600. After that
in part as a result of Fawcett's experience, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law tougher penalties for institutions and individuals that violate patients' privacy. Farrah will have that as her legacy too.

Farrah I wonder if we will ever forget that smile? I know I won't and my heart goes out to your family and loved ones.

May you rest in peace.